Chapter 85

The second issue that arose is also quite significant. Having worked at the hospital for quite some time now, I've managed to gather quite a bit of statistics on incoming shinobi.

More precisely, the types of their injuries—almost sixty percent or more are delivered with injuries from hand-to-hand combat, like various fractures or weapon-related injuries. All the remaining falls on jutsu and the most severe cases of chakra depletion.

And such statistics are somewhat disheartening, making me doubt the chosen direction of development in the shinobi arts. Putting the development of speed and taijutsu in last place can be fatally dangerous. No, mastery of the elements is undoubtedly necessary for further career advancement, but speed can be as decisive a factor as various techniques.

Just for the sake of my own peace of mind, I need to increase my morning exercises by one and a half to two times, especially since I am already able to withstand such a workload. And new sparring partners need to be found, as Ma and Setsura will hardly be able to train with me during the war.

In principle, there is an option to assign a D-rank mission to a team of genin capable of competing with me in taijutsu, like Inuzuki or Hyuga, since now the academy is producing quite decent shinobi candidates. With the latest raise in salary at the hospital, twice a week I can afford to hire a team for about half a day.

And there's a third problem, the most serious one. With the increasing workload at the hospital, I find myself involved in increasingly complex cases. In itself, this would only please me with the presence of additional practice and skill improvement, but in this case, there's simply a huge downside—I've begun to feel that I'm sorely lacking control for the most interesting and challenging cases!

For example, the restoration of severely damaged organs, when they have to be grown from remnants rather than stitched from pieces. For such tasks, coordinated work of four excellent medics is required or the use of certain techniques, like the seal that was used to treat Neji in canon.

The latter method is used quite rarely due to the high chakra consumption and the need for at least some superficial familiarity with fuinjutsu for controlling the work. Even my reserves won't be enough, let alone ordinary medics, who have excellent control but reserves usually not exceeding that of an average chuunin?

I'll have to put aside the use of clones for anything other than increasing control for at least the next couple of months. At least now I understand my grandfather's warning about the need to devote a large amount of time to control. Especially with my choice of profession as a medic, chakra control is much more important than anything else.

So, I should look for exercises at the jonin level in the library, since working with Rasengan and its variations no longer helps, just like the usual techniques of walking on trees and water used by genin. Perhaps it's worth consulting with Ichimaru-sensei, luckily he hasn't been sent anywhere yet. And then I can start working on the elements— the necessary paper has been stocked for me for a year already.

Besides, I've almost caught up in height with Saya, just five centimeters left, so I can start mastering blades. Of course, I should start not with Kurouchi, but with a regular tanto, but by the time I finally grow, I won't have to relearn stances and movements significantly. In principle, this can be combined with the morning routine, allocating an additional half an hour each day.

Now it's just a matter of digging into my scrolls from Uzushio and finding suitable weapons and styles. Perhaps it's best to start with the basic Uzumaki style and then, if it suits me, move on to a more complex variant.

And though significant results won't be achieved this way, the initial stances and movements don't require a teacher, so I'll manage with sparring with a clone for now, and then I'll tackle the emerging problem with the help of adults. After all, I can try to find a genin studying kenjutsu and arrange sparring with them. Great, that's what I'll do.

With a rough plan in mind, I nodded decisively and lowered my gaze to the plate as the chopsticks scraped against the emptiness. Hmm, lost in thought, I devoured the entire piece of cake! Oh well, I can afford it today! Taking the dishes to the sink and rinsing them, I dashed to my room—it was time to draw up a new schedule based on the approved plan. I think the next few months are going to be tough for me...

Struggling through the morning classes on general subjects and tactics, I hurried home. Today is the day I've scheduled to start acquainting myself with elemental techniques, or rather, just recognizing my own elements for now, and then we'll see.

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